Wigeon and Black Headed Gull .
An early start saw me heading off to Landguard to try and catch up with the Short-Toed Treecreeper that had been there for the last couple of days , i arrived at 8 am with the news being positive on the bird , and after almost minutes of me being there it flew from one area of scrub to another and out of sight , it had quite a laboured flight but on those views i was less than happy to include it on my year list .
Thankfully I did not have to wait to long for it to re appear in a some what smaller tree giving some brief but excellent views , its overall appearance was so much different to that of Eurasian Treecreeper , the wing pattern was quite striking and the supercillium was not as long or as broad , the rufous flanks were not that obvious from the range we were viewing from , it also called on occasion.
Thankfully I did not have to wait to long for it to re appear in a some what smaller tree giving some brief but excellent views , its overall appearance was so much different to that of Eurasian Treecreeper , the wing pattern was quite striking and the supercillium was not as long or as broad , the rufous flanks were not that obvious from the range we were viewing from , it also called on occasion.
I also added Black Redstart from this site and after i was satisfied with the views i headed off to Minsmere , i have not been to this reserve for a number of years and it has changed quite abit , however back to the birds !
Male Tufted Duck.
I spent quite a bit of time checking the scrape and it was not long before i saw a smart Spotted Redshank , which was followed by a Yellow-Legged Gull , i also added Avocet , Black Tailed Godwit and Ruff plus several Pintail scattered here , there and everywhere , i also managed a couple of photos of a very close Tufted Duck and a smart male Wigeon .
I headed off to the Island mere hide and was soon surprised to see two female Goosanders , whilst i was scanning the area i saw some hirundine over the reed bed and was very pleased to be watching 10+ Sand Martins .
I headed off to the Island mere hide and was soon surprised to see two female Goosanders , whilst i was scanning the area i saw some hirundine over the reed bed and was very pleased to be watching 10+ Sand Martins .
On the Sunday i headed of to Farlington marshes to hopefully connect with the Spoonbill and after walking around to roughly the area it had been seen from i picked it out doing what Spoonbills do ....
Sleeping Spoonbill .
Its awake !!!!!
I had prolonged views of the Spoonbill and it every now and again did a little bit of preening , this was a superb adult bird and you can make out the yellow tip to its bill in the second photo.
From here I called into Chichester to hopefully see the Little Gull which has been lingering there for quite some time and after a short walk i soon located it .
From here I called into Chichester to hopefully see the Little Gull which has been lingering there for quite some time and after a short walk i soon located it .
Little Gull.
I just love Little Gulls and was very pleased to see this one and even managed some pics , i added several Chiffchaffs but not alot else so with news of an Osprey near West Witterring i headed off there and despite a lengthy attempt of seeing this bird i failed but did get a very smart Swallow fly through and a couple of Red Breasted Mergansers for my efforts was reward enough.
